HEALTH
Hip Hop Superstar DMX in Grave Condition Following Heart Attack Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer DMX, the talented and gruffvoiced rap artist and actor who rose from the hard streets of Yonkers, New York to become one of hiphop’s most prolific stars, continues to fight for his life after his lawyer said he suffered a heart attack. Initial reports suggested that the star, most famous for the “Ruff Ryders Anthem” and whose real name is Earl Simmons, had suffered a drug overdose at around 11 p.m. on Friday, April 2. He was rushed to a hospital in White Plains, New York, where he reportedly remains in grave condition. “Please pray for my brother DMX,” hip-hop and “Blue Bloods” star Eric B. wrote on Twitter in a post that alerted the world to DMX’s dire condition. Missy Elliott, Ja Rule, Gabrielle
5 DMX (Courtesy photo)
Union and Viola Davis soon joined Eric B. in tweeting prayers to DMX. The superstar has struggled with drug addiction for decades and re-
cently explained his long battle to stay sober. He said someone who served as his mentor tricked him into smoking crack cocaine when DMX was 14. “I later found out that he [had] laced the blunt with crack,” DMX told Talib Kweli. “Why would you do that to a child?” Raised by an aunt, DMX took hip-hop by storm in the 1990s. He won Source magazine’s Unsigned Hype Award in January 1991 and released the promo single “Born Loser” for Columbia Records. After a nearly three-year hiatus, DMX returned to the limelight with an appearance on LL Cool J’s “4, 3, 2, 1.”
He worked with the Diddy protégé Ma$e on “24 Hours To Live,” the LOX’s “Money, Power & Respect” and the remix of Ice Cube’s smash hit, “We Be Clubbin.’” After signing a contract with Ruff Ryders/Def Jam Records, DMX recorded his iconic hit, “Get At Me Dog” which quickly rose on the rap and pop music charts. His seminal CD, “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot” cemented his legacy as a rap music genius. The website AllMusic.com noted that following Tupac Shakur’s deaths and the Notorious BIG, DMX took over as the undisputed reigning king of hardcore rap. “He was that rare commodity: a commercial powerhouse with artistic and street credibility to spare,” editors at AllMusic.com wrote. Hype Williams’ motion picture “Belly” was among the first to cast DMX in leading roles. The 1998 film also included Nas, Taral Hicks,
Method Man, R&B singer T-Boz and National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Before the end of 1998, DMX completed his second album and a pending buyout of Def Jam pushed the record into stores that December. Featuring a controversial cover photo of the rapper covered in blood, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood entered the charts at number one and eventually went triple platinum. The following year, DMX hit the road with Jay-Z and the Method Man/Redman team on the blockbuster Hard Knock Life tour. DMX went on to star in a myriad of motion pictures and television shows, including “Any Given Sunday,” “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “Cradle 2 the Grave.” DMX reportedly has 15 children. WI
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